A Not So Sibling Rivalry
by Sash-romancefreak
Summary: Oberon has raised a mortal girl named Joanie. Puck resents her because of how close she is to Oberon. Jealousy can make a fairy do crazy things. Especially a fairied like Robin Goodfellow.
1. Prologue

Fire was everywhere! The forest burned rapidly, the fires flames hungrily fed on the trees. A young girls cry could be heard all around the wood. The two-year-old ran for life. She was lost and scared. She had no idea where her parents were. Tears rolled down her small cheeks as she ran as fast as her tiny legs could carry her. Luckily she had started far away from the fire. She still had time to reach the village. Her parents weren't so fortunate…

Meanwhile, King Oberon and Queen Titania stood by the side of the fire. Robin Goodfellow, or Puck, stood in front of the fairies from the courts, who were staring fearfully at the fire. The young Indian boy Marcus, who was only five-years-old, clung to Puck's leg fearfully. The fire would soon consume their fairy home.

"This has gone too far!" Oberon bellowed. He turned to Titania. "We must put a stop to this! Robin, keep everyone here. We'll be back soon."

Puck nodded as Oberon and Titania took off to put out the fire. Marcus tugged on Puck's pant leg, whimpering with fear. Puck bent down and rubbed the kid's back as a method of calming him down. He knew that Marcus, being mortal, could actually die from this fire, while the fairies could not. He had to protect the child as best as he could. True, Puck was jester and servant to Oberon, and Oberon had given the child back to Titania, but Puck still felt is was his duty to look out for Marcus. Especially now.

The fire soon died down. The two rulers returned to their court. Marcus let go of Puck and ran into Titania's arms. Titania scooped up the child and rocked him gently. Puck couldn't help but smile at the site. Oberon made his way over to him.

"Go and see if there were any mortals harmed in this fire, and report back to me," he instructed the mischievous fairy.

"I'll do just that, my king," Puck nodded firmly. He started to scout the area. So far so good. Then he came upon two tragically burned, humans. Puck drew back in disgust. "I did not need to see that!" he spat. Even though he disliked mortals, he always hated to see a sight like that.

Puck searched the rest of the burned area, with the luck of not coming across anyone. "Now I'll go back to Oberon-" Puck started to say. He was interrupted by a whine that could only come from a small child. He followed the sound to a large burned hole of a tree trunk. Inside was the young two-year old. Puck reached for her, but as he did so, the child pressed herself against the back of the tree fearfully. He drew back before trying again. Just like the previous time, the girl only whimpered more. "What's the matter, young one?" he asked out loud, more to himself than the girl. "Do I offend?"

Puck decided not to test his luck and quickly grabbed the child out of the tree trunk. The girl cried and squirmed, but Puck held on tight. With much resistance from the girl, he returned to the fairies. The moment he set her down, the girl ran from Puck, looked around wildly, quickly went over to Oberon.

Oberon looked down at the child, then back to Puck. "Who is this? And what did you do to her?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Puck rolled his eyes. "I didn't do anything to her. She's just scared at me for some reason. I found her hiding. I also found two dead bodies. I'm guessing they were her parents."

Titania smiled at the girl gently. Marcus, who was next to Titania, looked at the girl curiously. Titania turned to her lord. "What shall we do with her?" she asked with concern.

"Well, we can't leave her here, and we don't know what will happen to her if we return her to the village," Oberon pointed out. He scratched his chin. "I shall take care of her."

Titania raised her eyebrows. "You?"

"Yes, of course," Oberon nodded. "You already have Marcus," he motioned to the Indian boy. "I shall take this one in."

Titania chuckled, but nodded politely. "All right then."

Oberon bent down until he was eye level to the girl. "What is your name, young one?" he asked her gently.

The girl wiped the tears from her eyes. She stared wide-eyed at Oberon. "J-Joanie," she answered in a small voice.

"Well, Joanie, how would you like to come live with us fairies?" Oberon suggested. His voice was kind. Joanie scanned the sea of fairies. She shrank back as her eyes rested on Puck. Oberon gave a small laugh. "Don't worry, he won't hurt you."

Joanie looked up and gave a small nod. "O-Okay."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

15 years later…

"Hey Puck, wait a second!" Joanie called out.

Puck stopped and cringed. He turned around to face Joanie. "I can't talk later, I've got to go do something."

Joanie placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. Puck knew she didn't believe his lame excuse. The reality of the situation was, he _couldn't_ talk to her. Yeah, he could if he wanted to, but he wouldn't. He had made a pact with himself to avoid confrontation with Joanie at all costs. It was the best for both of them.

Joanie sighed. "You don't like me very much, do you?" she said at last.

Puck folded his arms and stared at her, just below her eyes. He couldn't let her win. Not when he'd come so far. "Why would you say that?"

"Oh come on, Puck, I'm not dumb!" Joanie exclaimed, throwing her arms up in the air for added effect. "I can tell by the way you won't look me in the eye, and you seem to never be around. When ever I get near you make up some excuse to leave."

Puck just shrugged. She was smarter than he had previously thought. "So," he said simply. "I don't like you. Can I go now?"

Joanie narrowed her eyes at the fairy before her. "No! I want to know why. I haven't done anything to you."

Puck looked down, suddenly flooded with emotions. "You have no idea," he replied softly, with a hint of regret in his voice. He looked back up at Joanie to notice her expression had changed. Her eyes had softened, beckoning him to go on. Puck shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Ever since you came along, Oberon has been too preoccupied with you to spend any time with me," he began. He glared at Joanie. His anger hid his sadness and despair. It was the only way he could think as not to show any weakness. "He's been treating me much more of a servant than a friend. And it's all your fault. You've been taking up al of his affection, leaving none for me."

Puck let out a sigh. It felt good to let it out. Previously he had been taunting the humans in the village. Sometimes his tricks got out of hand, and become more than harmless. He always regretted it later, for he couldn't help himself. His pranks didn't bring him much amusement anymore. They were simply a way to release his anger.

Joanie stared at Puck with her mouth partly open. She sighed as she placed her hand on her face and shook her head. "So, that's what this is about." She looked into Puck's eyes, who in return shifted his gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry, Puck, but you'll just have to accept things how they are. I can't help it Oberon likes me best."

Puck felt as if fire were burning his insides. He finally stared Joanie in the eyes, send her a death glare. Yet Joanie stayed as strong as ever. She didn't fear the fairy like he had hoped she would. She didn't back down. "I resent that!" he spat, as if his words had a sour taste to them. "The only reason Oberon favors you is because you're a poor defenseless mortal who doesn't have anywhere else to go." Joanie gasped. Puck snickered with satisfaction. But soon his anger returned.

He went on, "I have been with Oberon for many years. Then you come along and steal him from me! It's as if everything we've been through doesn't matter anymore! And I can't stand it!"

Joanie folded her arms and frowned. She wrinkled her brow, as if in deep thought, before turning her gaze back to Puck. "What do you want me to do about it? Act like you and avoid him?"

"Leave the forest," Puck replied while rolling his eyes, as if the answer were obvious.

Joanie gasped again. "I can't do that!" Puck narrowed his eyes at her. He came towards he until he was only a few inches away from her face. He continued to glare at her, hoping to evoke fear. Joanie's eyes showed you understood the situation. "I won't." her voice quivered as she tried to remain strong. Had everything been different, this would have amused Puck. But this time it didn't. He placed his hands on Joanie's shoulders. He felt her flinch at his touch. "Why are you being so mean?" the girl as softly, with innocence.

Puck was taken back by her question. He let go of her and took a step back. How could he possibly answer her? He had never intended for this. This was the reason why he had avoided Joanie. No matter how much he tried not to be, anger like this made him mean. A mortal like Joanie would never understand that. She could never understand what he was feeling right now, how much it hurt. Puck broke her gaze and looked back down on the ground.

"Hello you two." Oberon's voice broke the tension. Both Puck and Joanie turned to face Oberon. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything." His tone was friendly, making the two feel more at ease.

"No, we were just talking," Puck answered, forcing a smile. He had become really good at acting over the years.

Oberon nodded. "Good. Joanie, why don't you come with me?"

"Of course, Oberon!" Joanie replied cheerfully. She smirked at Puck as she passed him. It was all he could do not to give her a mean look. She reached Oberon, who instantly put his arm around her. Joanie looked back at Puck and grinned, as if rubbing the whole thing in his face.

Puck gritted his teeth as he watch Oberon and Joanie walk off together. That was it. That girl had pulled his last nerve. She was about to make him do something he really didn't want to do. "Fine, if that's how you want it," he said out loud. "It's on."


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Joanie lay in a wide-open field. She closed her eyes and breathed in the fresh air. She knew it was dangerous to be so close to the village, but she really needed to get away. Suddenly she heard her name called. She sat up and opened her eyes to see Marcus on his unicorn, Vincent.

"Hey Marcus!" she greeted her friend as she stood up. "How are you doing?"

"I'm managing," Marcus replied, getting down from Vincent. "What are you doing all the way out here? If someone sees you…"

Joanie rolled her eyes. Marcus took up the role as big brother. But sometimes Joanie viewed him as too overprotective. "If someone saw they would question my being here and take me away. I know."

"Good." Marcus nodded firmly.

"What about you?" Joanie asked with interest. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you," Marcus said, almost as if accusing her of putting them both in danger. "I wanted to talk to you about some rumors I've heard. But let's get out of here first."

Marcus helped Joanie onto Vincent's back, then got on himself. Vincent started off on an easy trot. Joanie turned to look at Marcus. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, just that Titania and Oberon are planning on setting us up," Marcus replied, his eyes shifting uncomfortably.

Joanie raised her eyebrows. "As in marriage?"

Marcus nodded grimly. "But I don't know if it's true yet. I just wanted to know what you thought about it."

Joanie shrugged. Her cheeks turned pale pink. "Truthfully, I've never thought about your more than the brother I never had. But I guess it wouldn't be too bad. I'm just worried that someone else will come along."

"I thought you might say something like that." Marcus smiled lightly. "I guess we'll have to figure it out when the time comes. At least we're friends." Joanie smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Guess what Nerida?" Joanie asked her fairy friend. Nerida was sitting behind Joanie brushing her hair.

"What?" she asked her without loosing concentration on what she was doing.

"I think I've made an enemy of Puck," Joanie answered simply. Her tone suggested a hint of amusement.

Surprisingly, Nerida gasped and dropped her brush. "What?!" She groaned and turned her friend around to face her. "Joanie, do you know what you've done? You're in for it now."

Joanie just frowned. What was she talking about? "What do you mean?"

Nerida sighed impatiently. "Puck is known as a mischievous trickster. He usually keeps to the mortals in the village, but now that you've angered him I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to do something to you."

Joanie cocked her head to the side. She didn't know what to think now. "Like what?"

"I don't know!" Nerida exclaimed. She lowered her voice. "Just be careful, ok?"

Joanie smiled, glad that her friend cared about her. "Ok."

That night Joanie was twirling around in a field of flowers. She got close to a particularly purple looking flower and jumped back. She recognized the flower as love-in-idleness flowers. She had to be careful. She knew what power the flower held. She took a step back and bumped into someone. She turned around and jumped, falling on her back into the flowers. Puck stood there laughing.

Joanie scowled as she picked herself up. "That wasn't funny!" she protested, coming up close to his face.

Puck just smirked. "Yeah it was." He suddenly pulled out something from behind his back and shoved in Joanie's face. It was a love-in-idleness flower. Joanie gasped and stepped back, careful not to fall over again.

"Get that away from me!" she cried. "I don't want to fall in love with _you_!"

The expression on Puck's face showed his offense. "Why would I want _you _to fall in love with me?" Joanie glared at me. "No, I was thinking about something a bit more atrocious."

Joanie rolled her eyes. "Good luck with finding something like that."

Puck narrowed his eyes at her and pulled her toward him by her shirtsleeve. "You listen to me-" he began.

Joanie turned away and shuddered. "No!" she cried. She closed her eyes shut, trying to stay strong. She didn't like the way he intimidated her. Maybe Nerida was right after all. Maybe she should just avoid Puck altogether. But what about now?

Joanie opened her eyes and looked back at Puck, locking eyes with her. His glare gave her shudders, but she kept a steady gaze, all the while trying to think of a way to get out of the situation. Puck still had her by her sleeve. He thrust the live-in-idleness flower back at her. She winced and turned away. Thinking of her only defense, she called out, "OBERON!"

Joanie knew he could hear her. He had a talent for that. Just as she had hoped, Oberon was son behind her. "What Joanie?" he asked gently. Looking over the situation he frowned. "Puck, let go of her now." Puck reluctantly back away from Joanie. Oberon gave him a questioning look before extending hi hand to Joanie. "Come with me, Joanie. I'll make sure he doesn't bother you."

Joanie accepted Oberon's invitation with relief. She was sure glad that was over! But she couldn't help the chilling feeling that this was only the beginning…


End file.
